Jade’s on a bit of a roll call after not missing school for five years

DEDICATED school leaver Jade O’Toole is celebrating achieving 100 per cent attendance during her five years at Nova Hreod.

Year 11 pupil Jade, 16, was given a certificate commemorating her unblemished record during the leavers’ assembly at the Akers Way school last Friday.

Jade is the first student from the school to complete every day since the 1990s.

She said: “I’m so very proud of myself and I was quite shocked I went through school without taking any time off. There were a few times during my time here that I’ve had a cough or felt a little ill, but since getting to the end of Year 8, without taking time off, I was determined to get through school with a 100 per cent record.”

Jade has completed 940 days at Nova Hreod. Her parents, Tracey and James, along with sister Jodie, 14, are delighted with her hard work.

Jade is now going to study A-levels in law, geography and psychology at New College in September.

The teenager, who lives in Moredon, hopes her attendance record will make her stand out when applying for university places and jobs.

Her aim is to have a career in the legal profession.

Such is her determination to be a success that she’s doing work experience at Nova Hreod in their humanities department and the school hopes she’s seen as an inspiration to her fellow pupils.

Charlie Foster, house manager, said: “I’ve been here many years and this is something very rare. I think Jade has done fantastically well and it is great to see how pleased she is with her achievement.

“I have been a bit nervous for the last year or so that she’d do something too strenuous or take up extreme sports or something like that and might not be able to come in at some point.”

Headteacher Darren Barton believes Jade will continue to be dedicated to her studies in the next stage of her education.

He said: “We are absolutely thrilled by Jade’s efforts as this is something extremely rare and should be highly commended. I think it will stand her in good stead for the future.”